Microsoft Has An Identity Crisishttp://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-mission-statement-2013-7/comments
en-usWed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500Wed, 13 Dec 2017 22:42:39 -0500Jay Yarowhttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e40b1aeab8eae005000021Paul BirkelandMon, 15 Jul 2013 10:45:46 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e40b1aeab8eae005000021
Does anybody proofread these articles?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3f0aeeab8eae34e00001aSammy the Walrus IVMon, 15 Jul 2013 08:53:02 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3f0aeeab8eae34e00001a
What planet did you live on from 1995 to 2005? Clearly not Earth.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3f06b69beddf60f000012Sammy the Walrus IVMon, 15 Jul 2013 08:51:55 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3f06b69beddf60f000012
Microsoft is still the most relevant and present company for the average masses in technology. They touch everybody.
Sent from my iPhone
*Fixed that for youhttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3795b6bb3f7275a000004HelmaMon, 15 Jul 2013 00:23:55 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3795b6bb3f7275a000004
Microsoft's mission statement is making more money. And making it at the cost of the poor user who is just force into a Store to buy ugly, crappy apps.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e355cd6bb3f79b1500005ffreddy beeSun, 14 Jul 2013 21:52:13 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e355cd6bb3f79b1500005f
Two points for apple fanboy jay yarrow.
(1) I'd argue that 'building the best products" is a pretty vague general statement. you think companies set out to build the worst? second best?
(2) I think you'd gain some credibility if you could talk to Microsoft's Enterprise Business. It's certainly the core piece of their business. When you can talk to SharePoint, Lync, Exchange, SQL, Visual Studio, SystemCenter... and then layer on top of this your hatred for their consumer offerings - perhaps then i'll find your stuff more credible.
You're accurate in stating that the MSFT business is enormous - almost too big to be managed... but clearly, you only know a small amount of what they do... pretty hard to build an all-up mission statement for this kind of business. What is Berkeshire Hathaway's mission statement?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3274decad04d42c000019symbolsetSun, 14 Jul 2013 18:33:49 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3274decad04d42c000019
Microsoft's overarching mission is pretty simple. They view themselves as the owner of the technology world and their job to collect their rent. Now and then they have to splash on a new coat of paint, but building something new and wonderful is seen as an unnecessary cost center.
This has worked for a much longer time than I had thought possible, but it is coming to an end. Their rental properties have not been renovated in a very long time, and degraded into a slum. There are bright new communities just built right across town and the people who can are moving.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3272d6bb3f74842000020André Kenji De SousaSun, 14 Jul 2013 18:33:17 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3272d6bb3f74842000020
Microsoft is a like an orchestra that has excellent musicians, but that has a terrible maestro. The maestros(Including Gates) should go.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e324aa6bb3f7704200000ealbatmanSun, 14 Jul 2013 18:22:34 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e324aa6bb3f7704200000e
The problem with Microsoft is that it used to be a bully, a big one, a bully that crushed anyone that remotely competes with them. The tech elite hated them for it, and that is why it is disrespected, not because it lacked innovation or vision.
And no matter how much good deeds they do now, they are not able to erase that reputation, while the common man couldn't care less about that because they really couldn't understand it. Many of those influencers became Apple fans that think Apple can do no harm. It is interesting to see that even as you write this article, you didn't say Apple copied Microsoft, you said "adopted". Obviously in your head, Apple doesn't copy anything!
The reality has changed drastically in the last few years, Apple is now the bully, and Microsoft (while not saints) they are trying to be nice even to the open source community. Some of those Apple fans shifted to Google, some defected back to MS.
Microsoft has been innovating for ages, long before Google, and I might argue way more than any of the tech companies you mentioned. Microsoft research has been at the forefront of innovation, they created tablets, multi-touch devices, smartphones, speech recognition.... there isn't enough room to list all their innovation, BUT you are correct, they have a problem bringing that technology to market, and I think it is mostly due to lack of vision at the head (aka CEO) and internal politics.
Microsoft is not a one trick pony. They are good at creating a very diversified portfolio of solutions that are just "good enough" affordable by the majority, but they somehow couldn't repeat that in the mobile industry although they were the initial innovators in that industry.
If you are a one trick pony you can have a single mission statement, but when you are a diverse company you would have multiple mission statements depending on your target audience.
And yes, Ballmer needs to go.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3045269bedd8607000024nologinSun, 14 Jul 2013 16:04:34 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e3045269bedd8607000024
it's bread and butter is enterprise but its super jealous of apple and google being the cool kids that it's willing to risk it all for a piece of the limelight.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2f22becad04a84e000015TantrumSun, 14 Jul 2013 14:47:07 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2f22becad04a84e000015
All these stories about how Microsoft can't innovate are bunk. I can't think of a technology company that gets more negative press than Microsoft, maybe Hewlett, and in some ways they're very similar in their breadth, they serve the average joe to the highest enterprise with their technology offerings. Microsoft is still the most relevant and present company for the average masses in technology. They touch everybody.
Lets accept that breadth is out of fashion and when it's in fashion again, Microsoft will be better appreciated.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2eae769beddd853000026Rick2you2Sun, 14 Jul 2013 14:16:07 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2eae769beddd853000026
What MS's mission statement ought to be, but isn't, is that MS brings complex technology that people want in an easy-to-use, economical package for the average joe. That's what made Windows 3.1 a success while the overpriced Apple products slowly shrunk. But now, it's not. Instead, MS gives easy opportunities to geeky power users who know how to play with this stuff while acting like opportunists when it packages good products for the masses. For example, one big problem with Windows 8 is that it looks like it is designed to drive people to use multimedia (and more hardware/software MS can eventually make money off of) instead of letting people have an easy tool to work out where they want to go with it. When they do come up with a mass product, they either bastardized it to prevent cannibalization of their other products (like RT), or just insulted the public's intelligence (MS Kin, Bob).http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2e32eeab8ead235000010Harrison BrookSun, 14 Jul 2013 13:43:10 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2e32eeab8ead235000010
It's not over until the obese CEO sings...or until there's no food left in the MS cafeteria.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2e1b36bb3f7a43f000030wei-min chuSun, 14 Jul 2013 13:36:51 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2e1b36bb3f7a43f000030
It is amply clear that Ballmer is not a technologist who can imagine the future before it arrives. But cannot get rid of Ballmer unless Gates says so.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2d04069bedddb1c00000aTSun, 14 Jul 2013 12:22:24 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51e2d04069bedddb1c00000a
Microsoft is the embodiment of Ayn Rand's intellectual and business leaders on strike due to government antitrust actions against it over a decade ago. Microsoft used to have a vision but it lost that vision because BillG went on strike. The replacement chief has only 1 overarching vision that is to grow revenues by any means necessary. Since Microsoft was already a legally convicted monopolist, the only competition Microsoft perceives is against itself, hence all of its product groups are set against other internal product group because there were no viable external competitions at the time Ballmer took helm. This is in direct response to the government's meddling in the tech industry competitive landscape. Of course as time passes new threats arises but since every middle manager at Microsoft is trained with internal competition as the only viable competition, Microsoft simply became a company that wants to compete against only Microsoft and ignore all other real life competitors. Yes Microsoft executives talks about competing against Google, Amazon and Apple, but realistically every Microsoft middle manager owes their position and career to their past decisions to cannibalize another internal Microsoft division or product, so they keep on doing what they were trained to do. In the end the justification is government interference in anti-trust matters killed an innovative tech company and turned it into a laughing stock.